U.N. gives Iran deadline to disprove nuclear suspicions

Joby Warrick, Washington Post

Published 4:00 am, Saturday, September 13, 2003

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency took a dramatically tougher line with Iran on Friday after months of diplomacy, setting an Oct. 31 deadline for the Islamic republic to prove to the world that it is not secretly building nuclear weapons.

Iranian representatives to the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna walked out in protest after the agency's 35-nation governing board unanimously approved the U.S.-backed deadline. In an ominous turn, the leader of Iran's delegation warned that Iran may cease cooperating with U.N. nuclear inspectors,

prompting fears that Iran may follow North Korea in renouncing international treaty obligations that prohibit nuclear weapons research.

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"We will have no choice but to have a deep review of our existing level and extent of engagement with the agency," Iranian delegate Ali Akbar Salehi said in a brief statement before departing the talks.

The agency's decision sets up a possible showdown this fall with Iran, which must now choose between granting U.N. inspectors full access to its nuclear facilities and documents, or being brought before the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. For more than a year, the nuclear agency has been pressing Iran to explain a gigantic and largely clandestine expansion of its nuclear program, including the construction of a plant for enriching uranium.

Iran's claim that it seeks only to develop a civilian nuclear power industry was dealt a serious blow in July when agency inspectors detected traces of highly enriched uranium at a nuclear facility in Natanz, in central Iran. Highly enriched uranium is used in nuclear weapons.

"It is essential and urgent . . . that Iran remedy all failures identified by the agency and cooperate fully," the agency said in a resolution that passed without dissent. The agency called on Iran to provide a "full declaration" of its nuclear program, to open all nuclear sites for inspection and to agree to environmental testing in advance of an agency meeting scheduled for November.

The resolution also urged Iran to immediately freeze its uranium enrichment program as a sign of good faith. A similar request by the agency in June was ignored by Iran, which within weeks began enriching uranium on a pilot scale using a single machine known as a gas centrifuge, agency officials said.

Ten more machines were tested in late August in preparation for the opening of a larger facility in Natanz containing at least 1,000 centrifuges. When it is fully operational, the plant could produce enough enriched uranium for several nuclear bombs each year.

The agency decision was an important diplomatic victory for the Bush administration, which faced opposition from numerous countries that opposed U. S. policy toward Iraq, and were generally skeptical of its claims about Iran.

The administration, which initially sought a far harsher condemnation of Iran, lobbied heavily for the Oct. 31 deadline, and even dispatched delegations to capitals around the world to persuade other governments to take a tough stance. Ultimately, the accumulation of evidence of cheating by Iran --

evidence collected by agency inspectors during multiple visits to the country -- was impossible to ignore, U.S. diplomats said.

If Iran fails to meet the deadline, the board could declare it in noncompliance with the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Such a move could mean the loss of any legitimate foreign assistance to its nuclear industry, including Russian contracts to construct a light-water nuclear reactor near the coastal city of Bushehr.

The agency's decision was praised by many nonproliferation experts and congressional leaders.

"The world can have no illusions now that Iran is well on the path to becoming a nuclear power," said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-San Mateo, ranking member of the House International Relations Committee. "It is long past time for the international community, and Russia in particular, to acknowledge this fact and pressure Iran for a full and complete accounting of its activities and full compliance with the solemn commitments."

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